remove

1 of 2

verb

re·​move ri-ˈmüv 

removed; removing

transitive verb

1

a

: to change the location, position, station, or residence of

remove soldiers to the front

b

: to transfer (a legal proceeding) from one court to another

2

: to move by lifting, pushing aside, or taking away or off

remove your hat

3

: to dismiss from office

4

: to get rid of : eliminate

remove a tumor surgically

intransitive verb

1

: to change location, station, or residence

removing from the city to the suburbs

2

: to go away

3

: to be capable of being removed

removability

ri-ˌmü-və-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

removable adjective

or less commonly removeable

ri-ˈmü-və-bəl 

removableness

ri-ˈmü-və-bəl-nəs 

noun

removably

ri-ˈmü-və-blē 

adverb

remover noun

remove

2 of 2

noun

1

: removal

specifically : move sense 2c

2

a

: a distance or interval separating one person or thing from another

b

: a degree or stage of separation

Synonyms

Verb

• doff
• douse
• peel (off)
• put off
• shrug off
• take off

Noun

• distance
• lead
• length
• spacing
• spread
• stretch
• way

Examples of remove in a Sentence

Verb

Remove the trash from the front yard.

My tonsils were removed when I was five years old.

Trees help to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

These new findings should remove any doubt about his innocence.

What's a good way to remove stains from a silk dress?

The new law would remove obstacles to obtaining a work permit.

He was removed from office.

Noun

She thrives when she's at some remove from mainstream society.

their farm is just a remove of two miles from the town center

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Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

The soft silicone bristles gently remove dirt and debris without scratching (or scaring) and only need a little water to work. —Hannah Rice, Rolling Stone, 1 Dec. 2023

In antiquity, Roman enslaved workers, free men and convicts removed marble from these mountains with wedges and picks to build Trajan’s Column and parts of the Pantheon. —Elaine Sciolino, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Dec. 2023

Ousting him allowed the GOP to remove a potential thorn in the party's side ahead of the 2024 election, mainly in New York. —Geoffrey Skelley, ABC News, 1 Dec. 2023

The statue in Allendale Charter Township quickly became a point of contention as communities across the country considered removing monuments and renaming buildings with ties to the Confederacy following the May 2020 killing of George Floyd. —Praveena Somasundaram, Washington Post, 30 Nov. 2023

The 11-page bylaws established by OpenAI Inc. in January 2016 give board members the exclusive right to elect and remove fellow directors and also to determine the board’s size. —Will Knight, WIRED, 30 Nov. 2023

In May, the book publisher joined PEN America and others in a federal suit in Florida against the Escambia County School District and the county school board over removing and restricting books in public school libraries, according to the Wall Street Journal. —Britney Nguyen, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023

In court, Martinez is seeking damages exceeding $25,000, according to the complaint, and a legal injunction that would force Airbnb to remove listings without carbon monoxide detectors and mandate the use of detectors along with the inspection of fuel-burning devices. —Ben Goggin, NBC News, 30 Nov. 2023

Advertisement Michl was described by law enforcement as a person living in her vehicle, which was parked nearby and removed as evidence by police. —Jeremy Childs, Los Angeles Times, 30 Nov. 2023

Noun

Kidane may have been of less immediate interest to prosecutors in Europe because his main operation, in Bani Walid, was at one remove from the sea crossings, but his crimes were nevertheless egregious. —Ed Caesar, The New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2023

As for the artists, instead of operating at a remove, through galleries or museums or time delays, they were pulled into a vital, ephemeral exchange that could only happen once. —Will Heinrich, New York Times, 4 Nov. 2023

The hours between are spent at an odd and serene remove from a city not a ten-minute ride away by water. —Charlie Hobbs, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Sep. 2023

Coverage of the new war in Israel does not allow for such a remove. —Brian Steinberg, Variety, 11 Oct. 2023

Holst leaves the listener in the far removes of outer space, with Neptune being a study in musical mysticism, highlighted by a hidden hymning women’s chorus, as if heard from a mysterious distance. —Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2023

From detergents to stain removes, dryer balls to drying racks, here are some best-selling Amazon products that make doing laundry less of a hassle. —Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 25 Aug. 2023

Dual-zone automatic climate control is standard and features an air ionizer to help clean remove smells from the cabin; going with the Plus trim adds a third climate control zone for the rear passenger compartment. —Drew Dorian, Car and Driver, 22 Aug. 2023

Crafted in isolation in the artist’s studio in rural Sweden, the pieces grapple with our collective downfall with wry humor and a childlike remove, threatening and comforting at the same time. —Camille Okhio, ELLE Decor, 24 Aug. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English remeven, removen, from Anglo-French remuver, removeir, from Latin removēre, from re- + movēre to move

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Noun

1553, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

remove

1 of 2 verb

re·​move ri-ˈmüv 

removed; removing

1

: to change or cause to change to another location, position, station, or residence

remove soldiers to the front

2

: to move by lifting, pushing aside, or taking away or off

remove your hat

3

: to dismiss from office

the treasurer was removed after a year

4

: to get rid of : eliminate sense 1

remove a tumor

5

: to go away

6

: to be capable of being removed

a bottle cap that removes easily

remove

2 of 2 noun

1

: removal

especially : move entry 2 sense 2c

2

a

: a distance separating one thing from another

b

: a degree or stage of separation

at one remove

Legal Definition

remove

verb

re·​move ri-ˈmüv 

removed; removing

transitive verb

: to change the location, position, station, status, or residence of: as

a

: to have (an action) transferred from one court to another and especially from a state court to a federal court see also separable controversy

Note: Section 1441 et seq. of title 28 of the U.S. Code allows a defendant who is brought into a state court to remove the action to federal district court when diversity of citizenship exists, when the action involves a claim or right arising under the U.S. Constitution or under laws or treaties of the U.S., or when the defendant is a foreign country or its agency or instrumentality. Civil actions and criminal prosecutions brought against an officer or agency of the U.S. for any act under color of office may also be removed.

b

: to dismiss from office

an independent counsel…may be removed from office…only by the personal action of the Attorney General

—U.S. Code

c

: to take away

should his incapacity be removed by a judgment of a court

—Louisiana Civil Code

removability

-ˌmü-və-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

removable adjective

also removeable

-ˈmü-və-bəl 

removableness noun